All the time in the World
by Th 1998
Summary: The Battle against Salem had been won but the cost was high, too high for some. Now Ruby faces an enemy she had never wished to face as such. But is stopping him really the right thing?


Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing.

So yeah, I simply got this idea and wanted to write it. An important note is that when I am talking about Oscar I mean just Oscar, this ff plays after Salem is defeated wich in this ff led to Ozpin dying but oscar surviving his body now his own again. This is a one-shot and does not have another ff connected to it. The important stuff to have happened is all implied during the ff but if it isn't clear enough feel free to tell me. That said I hope you have fun with this short One-shot.

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While she was running towards her destination Ruby took a look at what she was left with, she should not have. A handful of soldiers, Port, and Oscar where all that stood with her, they were all they had left. The bodies of fallen soldiers, allies and enemies, and did she hate to call them enemies, littered the floors the ran upon, it was mostly allies she noted.

But she had no chance to further think those sad thoughts for after they turned around a corner they were spotted by two soldiers guarding the door that lead to the inner sanctum of the fortress they were in.

She gave them no time to react and swung her scythe with ungodly speed. She hoped to incapacitate them without taking their life but the moment she felt her scythe cutting through their flesh like it was nothing she knew there was no hope of that, their auras were much too weak to protect them.

Giving the soldiers she just had killed one sad look, she quickly turned back towards her goal and with another swing of her scythe the steel doors in front of her fell down in pieces. She was not prepared for the sight that greeted her behind the door. The multitude of corpses she had seen while making her way to this point where nothing compared to this, it was clear that this was the point the soldiers and few Huntsman had made their glorious last stand... and failed.

Bodies littered the floor and the floor was almost completely covered by the blood of the dead. In the middle of the room, she could see roughly a dozen figures. They had been praying but upon hearing the destruction of the door, had quickly jumped around and drawn their weapons.

Their sight was truly something to behold. Clad in chest armor and mantle, both of which was once white, having been drenched in blood, they made an unnerving sight. This was not helped by the Hood and mask every single one of them wore. Each of those masks was metallic and crafted to look like mourning faces.

Finally the last of the figures turned around, the one soldier that had not instantly turned around upon hearing the destruction of the door, but had rather calmly finished his prayer before slowly raising and turning to face her.

Cardin posed an imposing figure, gone was the immature bully of their school days, in his place standing a veteran of many battles, the scars covering his body under the full body armor he wore, it's pitch black color contrasting the ones of his soldiers, a testament to that. Cardin slowly turned his head, the only part of his body that was exposed, toward hers and looked into her face.

Different from the rest of his body his face was almost clear of wounds with one exception, a deep gash over his left eye, forever blinding it, the wound to severe to replace the eye with a cybernetic one. After a few seconds that felt like an eternity to her Ruby noticed that her remaining comrades had finally caught up to her. Cardin chose this moment to speak, his voice slow and deliberate, almost soft it echoed through the chamber.

''It is only proper to give a prayer to the dead wouldn't you say?''

It only took a second for her to respond. ''Please Cardin, why are you doing this, hasn't the war already cost us enough?''

But Cardin just gave a sad laugh. ''You know exactly why I am doing this Ruby, it is exactly because we have lost so much, too much.''

She was just about to retort to this when Oscar suddenly put a hand on her shoulder, the once young farmboy having grown into a warrior of his own. ''Don't Ruby. He is just trying to stall us.''

Turning back to Cardin she could see a small smile on his face.

''Well, I got noticed pretty quickly, didn't I? Luckily there is still another way to stop your progress.''

While saying that he slowly twisted his trusty mace around his hand with incredible skill.

She was just about to sprint towards him when another hand was laid on her shoulder, this time it was Port.

''We will take care of those scoundrels miss Rose, we cannot afford to lose more time here. They might be mighty foes but they won't be able to stop you from getting past them.''

''DOESN'T MEAN WE WON'T TRY!''

And with those words Cardin, who had started moving midway through Ports words, smashed his Mace into the ground with all of his strength, creating an explosion that rippled the ground and threw them back. Not stopping to admire his work Cardin's pulled out his mace and continued his charge but was quickly engaged by Oscar and Port while the remaining soldiers that had managed to survive opened fire on the masked warriors behind Cardin, hoping to at least stall them for a bit.

''GO! NOW!''

Oscars words snapped Ruby back to attention and she triggered her semblance bypassing the entire battle in mere moments and appearing before the elevator that sat at the back of the room. Not having the time to call up the elevator again she simply jumped down the shaft and cut through the roof of the elevator that was the bottom.

Before exiting the elevator she took one last deep breath to steel herself for what she knew was about to come. Stepping out of the elevator she was greeted with a sight that made Cardin seem almost boring by comparison.

I front of her, facing her direction, stood a figure, clad in golden armor, covering his entire body and head, a crimson red cloak at his back. His right hand grasping a blood-drenched sword, his left hand a great shield, his sight that had brought hope to so many now signaled only the doom he was trying to unleash on humanity.

Despite knowing the futility of it she could not stop herself from trying to get through to him one last time. ''Please Jaune, there is still time to stop this madness.''

At first, her only response was amused laughter, then he finally spoke. ''True, after I am done I will have more than enough time. But it does not have to be just me Ruby, join me, with your help this will be so much easier.''

The did indeed think about, like the first time he had made her the same offer, so many months ago but just like that time, she could not bring herself to agree. ''I can't Jaune. What you are doing is madness, you will destroy all that is left of Humanity and the Faunus.''

But he just shook his armored head. ''No, I am simply giving them a new chance.''

But she would not back down. ''You will erase 12 years of history, so many new people born, so many experiences made and you will take all of that away forever.''

But he remained as resolute as she did. ''A sacrifice more than worth it. Do you truly not wish to see all our friends again, your partner, your father, your sister?''

How could he ask her that? ''OF COURSE, I DO! BUT THAT DOES NOT MAKE WHAT YOU ARE DOING RIGHT!''

Following her outburst reigned silence for a few seconds until Jaune raised his blade and shield getting ready to battle. ''Then we have nothing more to talk about, have at you.''

And with those words he stormed at her with far greater speed then his armor seemed to allow him. Ruby not having expected him to so suddenly attack was startled for the slightest moment making a fatal mistake. Using the slight window her gained Jaune had closed the distance between them, putting her at a severe disadvantage, unable to properly utilize her scythe due to Jaunes relentless assault. With every blow dodged ruby could see him gaining more of an advantage, she had to quickly do something. Leaving a seemingly accidental opening she baited him into a low strike and jumped high over it, turning in the air and bringing down her scythe in a deadly slash from above. But her attack had not been fast enough, at the last moment Jaune had been able to reposition himself, letting her attack meet his shield at the right angle, causing it to slide off it, minimizing the damage taken. But he was not finished yet, tossing his blade to the side he used his right hand to quickly grab her and smash his head against hers. Despite her aura, the blow caused her to lose her concentration for a few moments. Moments that Jaune used by letting go of her only to deliver another crushing blow against her head with his shield.

She fell to the ground, the world swimming before her eyes. But the follow-up blow she expected never came. Instead, she was able to vaguely make out heavy footsteps turning away from her. Jaune was so fixated on the artifact that he had grown careless. Or maybe he had not wanted to kill her, this thought made ruby feel guilty for what she was about to do. Waiting for her senses to work properly again, she carefully changed her position, readied herself and shot up towards Jaunes back with incredible speed. Sadness and guilt over what she was about to do filled her thoughts but none the less she got ready to strike, albeit, with slight hesitation, she concentrated upon Jaunes unprotected back and then... nothing.

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When he opened his eyes again he did not dare to turn around for almost a whole minute. But finally, he could no longer deny the reality of what he had just done, holstering his sword he drew but a minute before he turned around to the gruesome sight he had created. before him lay Rubys body, and right beside it her head. He slowly shook his head, a few silent tears leaking out of his eyes, the helmet he was wearing hiding any signs of this weakness he would not allow himself to openly show.

''Oh Ruby, you foolish, foolish girl. You shouldn't have hesitated with you strike... but then again so did I when not striking you down when you lay on the ground didn't I? Don't worry Rubes, I promise that I will make everything right again. You know what, next time I see you I will buy you a big bag of cookies, just make sure to not let Nora know. Actually, I will buy her one as well, she will probably be happy don't you think.''

But his only answer was oppressing silence. He had, of course, expected nothing else, he knew all too well that the dead would not come back, not unless he took it in his own hands. Slowly, somberly he made his way towards the fault, towards the relic he so desperately desired. Suddenly he heard another heavy thumb coming from the elevator shaft. Turning around he saw the heavily wounded form of Cardin, wounded but alive, for now. A small stone was lifted from his heart, he had feared he would not make it. Cardin obviously knew what he was thinking.

''You didn't think I would let you go through this alone did you?''

Despite the circumstances, he let out a small chuckle.

''I must admit that the fear crossed my mind, how are your wounds.''

He got a cynical chuckle in return.

''Brilliant, they are doing a perfect job at killing me. Don't give me that look-'' Jaune still was not sure how he could give 'that look' through his helmet but did not interrupt his friend. ''- I will hold out long enough, now get that relic.''

Giving a nod Jaune quickly strode towards the Vault to retrieve the relic.

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He carefully sat beside the dying Cardin, the relic in hand. Carefully he placed it between the two of them and saw Cardin lay his hand on it. He turned his head towards Cardin's.

''Ready to change the world?''

Cardin gave back a small but hopeful smile.

''Right behind you boss, now and forever.''

Hearing those words Jaune put his Aura into the artifact and the world shattered.

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''Jaune.''

''Jaune.''

''JAUNE!''

He suddenly shot up from the... table, yes a table, his head was laying upon, looking around. surrounding him where the worried stares of those he had so longed to see. They all were there, Ruby, Weiss, Blake, Yang, Nora, Ren and her, Pyrrha.

''Are you okay Jaune?''

Not caring about the fact that they were in the middle of their meal he suddenly crashed into Pyrrah with a strong hug, tears in his eyes. His friend's eyes widened in surprise while Pyrrah was way too happy to care about the reason he had hugged her.

''Yes, Yes I am.''

This time they would do it right.

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Well, that was it, not really sure what to say. Hope you had fun and if you have anything to say please review. Critic is always welcome, after all this is quite amateurishly written. I hope that this story was none the less able to entertain you at least a bit.

This story has not been beta read.


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